Master Index of Archived Threads


Top twilight Zone episodes

Vic Sage Jan 03 2013 09:10 AM

i kept flipping past the TZ marathon over new years, stopping now and then to watch a few minutes of a particularly beloved episode. I've seen them all so many times, all i need is a minute or two to feel like i've seen the whole episode... nostalgia fills in all the details. which are your favorite episodes? my top 10 -- Nervous Man in a $4 room -- a thug faces himself in the mirror The Night of the Meek - Art Carney as a drunken Santa The Invaders - Agnes Moorhead as a silent woman defending her home from tiny space invaders The Shelter - neighbors attack a family's fallout shelter It's a good life - little Billy Mumy wishes his neighbors into the cornfield Nothing In the Dark - Robert Redford is death The Hunt - an old man and his dog go coon huntin' Steel - Robot Boxer is replaced by his manager Nightmare at 20,000 feet - William Shatner sees a gremlin on the wing The Jeopardy Room - Russian defector in a room with a bomb

The Second Spitter Jan 03 2013 09:15 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

I liked the episode where the convict gets hanged at the bridge and fantasizes his entire escape in the five seconds subsequent to the gallows being drawn & quartered, which in his mind lasts as long as the duration of the episode.

Edgy MD Jan 03 2013 09:20 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

Thanks for describing them without the big reveal at the end. After decades, sometimes they can take you by surprise again. I like (in addition to the ones you list): [list][*]The one with Klugman playing pool in Purgatory, because Klugman doesn't give a shit about being on a cheap thriller show, he's going to act. He was one compelling dude.[/*:m] [*]The one with Dick York as a banker who has a lucky day and can suddenly read minds, because I find it endearing to think of a young bank teller having a crush on Dick York.[/*:m] [*]The one with the guy whose life suddenly turns out to be a TV show. Every kid privately wonders if everything's a charade and everybody's faking it. Well... this kid did.[/*:m][/list:u] ON EDIT: [list][*]Robert Blake and Elizabeth Montgomery as mortal enemies who are the last two people on earth. Pretty much any episode that featured a Bewitched! cast member was a winner.[/*:m][/list:u]

Ceetar Jan 03 2013 09:21 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

I've seen a good amount of them over the years, but it's been a while (did Dr Who instead this year at New Years) and I doubt I could really comfortably rank them. I feel like reading through the episode guide that I'll just keep going "Yeah! that was a good one!" Some ones that come to mind: A Game of Pool - A legendary pool player returns from the dead to meet the challenge of a pool shark, with the shark's life at stake. To Serve Man - Representatives of an alien race come to Earth and offer mankind cures for all earthly ills. The Eye of the Beholder - A woman lies in a hospital bed with her head wrapped in bandages after having facial surgery, hoping that her dreaded ugliness has at last been fixed. a Penny for Your Thoughts - When a coin lands on its edge, a bank clerk gains the ability to hear other people's thoughts – and soon learns that you cannot always believe what you hear. It's a Good Life - A six-year-old boy controls and terrorizes the residents of an isolated village, because of his special powers to make everything the way he wants. The After Hours - A woman is told that the floor of a department store where she made a purchase does not exist.

Mets – Willets Point Jan 03 2013 09:23 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

I think it might be easier to make a list of Twilight Zone episodes that aren't good.

Ceetar Jan 03 2013 09:38 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

Mets – Willets Point wrote: I think it might be easier to make a list of Twilight Zone episodes that aren't good. two of my least favorite, although they're not bad, just particularly scary to me. On Thursday We Leave For Home: A group of space pioneers prepare for a return trip to Earth, having failed to establish a new society on a distant planet, but the group's leader refuses to give up his authority. (This one gave me nightmares when I was little) Time Enough At Last - A bank teller yearning for more time to read gets his wish when he becomes the sole survivor of a nuclear holocaust.

metirish Jan 03 2013 09:44 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

Not sure if this is a TZ episode......the one where the woman plans to escape prison by hiding in a coffin that's about to be buried....she bribes a janitor to dig her up after....she was a nasty thing though....as she lays under the dirt waiting she strikes a match and to her horror the body she is sharing the coffin with is the janitor.....

Edgy MD Jan 03 2013 09:47 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

NO GIVING AWAY THE PAYOFF!

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jan 03 2013 09:54 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

I think-- THINK-- that was a Hitchcock. I loved those two that freaked out Ceetar, It's A Good Life, The AfterHours, Eye of the Beholder, the one with the freaked-out lady who has the creepy recurring morgue dream she's SURE is real, and the one with the astronauts who crash-land on a far-off, barren asteroid and turn on each other, and the one with the freaky talking doll. OE: Those last three are Twenty-Two, I Shot An Arrow Into The Air, and Living Doll.

Swan Swan H Jan 03 2013 10:06 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

The Second Spitter wrote: I liked the episode where the convict gets hanged at the bridge and fantasizes his entire escape in the five seconds subsequent to the gallows being drawn & quartered, which in his mind lasts as long as the duration of the episode. That one was called An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, and was the first episode that Serling and company did not have produced specifically for the series. It had already won several awards before it was picked up as part of TZ. My favorites? A Stop at Willoughby - Ad exec escapes his job and wife by going back to a bucolic village from the turn of the 20th Century Walking Distance - Ad exec (see a theme here?) escapes the city, goes for a walk, and ends up in his hometown The Eye of the Beholder - Knowing the ending barely diminishes the story The Midnight Sun - The Earth changes orbit and threatens to burn up The Lonely - A prisoner sentenced to life on a distant asteroid receives an unusual gift Where Is Everybody? - The first episode - a man is alone in a small town The After Hours - Odd things are happening at a department store The Rip Van Winkle Caper - Gold thieves wake up after 100 years in suspended animation Escape Clause - Immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be The Shelter / The Monsters are Due on Maple Street - I occasionally conflate these two episodes, as they touch on similar themes.

Frayed Knot Jan 03 2013 10:19 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

I was going to mention 'Willoughby' It's been a while since I saw any of them although one of my brothers could probably recite all of them from memory.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jan 03 2013 10:20 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jan 03 2013 10:30 AM

"Willoughby" is a good one-- saw it as a kid, and thought it was crappy; saw it a few years ago, and it resonated like nobody's business. As cornfield boy and the kid maybe talking to his dead grandma on the toy phone, Mumy's got to head up the all-time TZ Players list, right?

Edgy MD Jan 03 2013 10:27 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

Along with Burgess Meredith, Jack Klugman, and Shatner, I think. Though Agnes Moorhead deserves it for just that one episode.

Edgy MD Jan 03 2013 10:28 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

Robert McCord: 10 episodes.

Mets – Willets Point Jan 03 2013 10:41 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

I was freaked out by a lot of episodes of The Twilight Zone, no more so than by this episode from the 1980s revival series.

Vic Sage Jan 03 2013 12:43 PM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

...Robert Blake and Elizabeth Montgomery as mortal enemies who are the last two people on earth. Pretty much any episode that featured a Bewitched! cast member was a winner. That wasn't Blake, it was Charles Bronson, and it was another great episode, called TWO. Reminiscent of HELL IN THE PACIFIC and ENEMY MINE. and that "woman in the coffin" story was definitely not TZ.

Edgy MD Jan 03 2013 12:45 PM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

I knew it felt wrong when I typed it, yet didn't know why. Bronson --- even better.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 03 2013 01:47 PM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

I can watch almost any episode and be satisfied, though it's been a long time since I've watched one. For some reason when I saw this question I flashed on "A Kind of a Stopwatch" where Boring old McNulty bores everyone but I also dig "A Living Doll" and "Willoughby" as mentined above.

batmagadanleadoff Jan 03 2013 01:55 PM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

I thought I'd seen them all by the time I was 20. But I didn't catch my favorite TZ episode until about 10 years ago: The Howling Man I often daydream that I'm the Prime Mover, the Buddy Ebsen character that can move objects (like dice and roulette wheel balls) with his mind.

Mets – Willets Point Jan 03 2013 02:51 PM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

4 seasons of The Twilight Zone from 1959-1963 are on Netflix streaming (138 episodes in all). I know how I'll be spending 2013 now.

Swan Swan H Jan 03 2013 03:01 PM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

I hang this picture in my office every now and then, as the workload demands.

Vic Sage Jan 03 2013 03:45 PM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

Mets – Willets Point wrote: 4 seasons of The Twilight Zone from 1959-1963 are on Netflix streaming (138 episodes in all). I know how I'll be spending 2013 now. they probably don't stream the 1-hour episodes season (season 4), probably only running seasons 1-3 &5. Its hard to see those 1hour episodes, though they're mostly not very good. Nor is most of season 5, frankly, though that season did include NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FT, LIVING DOLL and MASKS.

RealityChuck Jan 03 2013 04:47 PM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

Nick of Time is my favorite. The horror is subtle and the message is clever. Because of this, few people think of it. "It's a GOOD Life" is pretty good, if you haven't read the original story, which were far more subtle than horrifying (that Jack-in-the-Box is silly; what Anthony did in the story is far more scary, as is the character; the TV version is dumbed down horror). "To Serve Man" is OK, but a bit long for the concept. Again, the story was better. I really dislike "A Stop at Willoughby"; it's message -- kill yourself to find peace -- is repulsive. Same with "Time Enough to Last," which is just gratuitously nasty. "The Howling Man" is just plain stupid. "Eye of the Beholder" was probably pretty good when first aired, but since everyone knows the twist (even if you don't, it seems badly telegraphed), it loses impact, and the end is preachy as hell. Personally, I think the 80s revival was far better than the original. My top ten for that: "Nightcrawlers" -- Simply the most tense and suspenseful horror episode ever on TV, especially in the original airing, which ran without commercial breaks. Directed by William ("The French Connection") Friedken "Wordplay" -- A man finds the language changing around him: "dinosaur," for instance, is the name of the midday meal. The first TV script by Rockne O'Bannon, creator of Farscape and other SF TV. Directed by Wes Craven, who did several episodes. "Paladin of the Lost Hour" -- Harlan Ellison script (one of several), about a magical timepiece. "Wong's Lost and Found Emporium" -- A fine dramatization of William F. Woo's short story. "Monsters!" -- Brings into question the whole question of what a monster is. "To See the Invisible Man" -- Terrific adaptation of a Robert Silverberg story. The final scene is one of the most beautiful and emotionally rich to appear on TV. "Button, Button" -- Richard Matheson adaptation, similar in mood to the original. Matheson hated the changed ending, but it was a smart switch from a cheap bit of philosophy to the type of nasty (though in this case, deserved) twist the old show was famous for. Later made into a movie that did nothing to improve on it. Episode directed by Peter (The Ruling Class) Medak. "Lost and Found" -- Lighter fare. Nice adaptation of a Phyllis Eisenstein story, by George R.R. Martin, who seems to have some success later. "The Cold Equations -- Fine adaptation of the classic Golden Age SF story. "Crazy as a Soup Sandwich" -- Another Harlan Ellison script, and very funny. The main comparison between the two versions are the writers. For the original, you had Rod Serling, Richard Matheson, George Clayton Johnson, and Charles Beaumont. For the revival, you had Matheson, Harlan Ellison, Rockne S. O'bannon, Allen Brennert (Emmy winning writer), Michael Cassut, George R. R. Martin, Stephen Barnes, David Gerrold, Joe Haldeman, J. M. DeMatteis (well known as a comic book writer), and J. Michael Straczynski. The revival also adapted stories by Stephen King (with Ellison writing the screenplay), Theodore Sturgeon, Ellison, Ray Bradbury (as did the original, I believe), Arthur C. Clarke, Greg Bear, and Roger Zelazny. Another advantage was that the revival was originally a one hour show with multiple stories each show. Thus, the stories didn't have to stretch out to fit into a half hour; many of the episodes had short, five-minute stories. Something like "I of Newton" ran about five minutes, a perfect length for it. Trying to make it into half an hour would have been very tedious (alas, after the first season, they went to half hour stories). Overall, the New Twilight Zone was far better, more thoughtful, and more emotionally rich than the original.

MFS62 Jan 03 2013 09:41 PM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

I remember the episode (with Burgess Meredith ?) about an avid reader who is the last man alive after some Apocalypse and finds a library with all of its books unharmed. I won't spoil the ending. Later

Vic Sage Jan 04 2013 09:36 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

i just spent a 1/2 hour writing a retort to Chuck's outrageous statement that the 80s TZ series was "far better" and "more emotionally rich" than the original series, and then i lost it when i tried to post it. And i just don't have the energy to rewrite it. But it was good! Trust me.

Edgy MD Jan 04 2013 09:45 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

Good job!

batmagadanleadoff Jan 04 2013 09:53 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

Vic Sage wrote: i just spent a 1/2 hour writing a retort to Chuck's outrageous statement that the 80s TZ series was "far better" and "more emotionally rich" than the original series, and then i lost it when i tried to post it. And i just don't have the energy to rewrite it. But it was good! Trust me. I would agree. I own the box set of the New Twilight Zone, 2002-03 season, and almost all of the episodes struck me as flat and uninspiring. But what do I know? I love The Howling Man.

Mets – Willets Point Jan 04 2013 09:57 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

Vic Sage wrote: i just spent a 1/2 hour writing a retort to Chuck's outrageous statement that the 80s TZ series was "far better" and "more emotionally rich" than the original series, and then i lost it when i tried to post it. And i just don't have the energy to rewrite it. But it was good! Trust me. I don't know if I'd say they were better, but I remember the 80s revival as being pretty darn good. And looking at Wikipedia the shows had some talented writers and actors. I never saw the 2002 revival.

Vic Sage Jan 04 2013 10:06 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

The 80s series was excellent... at least the first season was, when they were doing the 1hr/multi-story episodes. But they went to standard 1/2 hour episodes fairly early in season 2 (it was getting killed in the ratings by WEBSTER and MR. BELVEDERE), and season 3 was only produced to sell the series into syndication, and they are slapdash and uninspired. my quarrel isn't with lauding the often overlooked and underrated 80s revival (the 02 revival wasn't anything memorable). It's with asserting it to be "far better" and "more emotionally rich" than the original series.

Edgy MD Jan 04 2013 10:10 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

I saw one two-part episode from the last revival --- one with Puddy from Seinfeld as a fantasy swordsman come to life to help a kid deal with bullying classmates and a bullying stepdad, the other with Lou Diamond-Phillips as a pool cleaner undergoing some strange manipulated psychological torment. I thought it was feh, but maybe a big part of it is being young, up too late, seeing these great character actor faces in the shadows of black and white, while a creepy detached guy smokes while he narrates, with this air of "There's nothing I can do --- it's the ZONE."

batmagadanleadoff Jan 04 2013 10:21 AM Re: Top twilight Zone episodes

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Vic Sage wrote: i just spent a 1/2 hour writing a retort to Chuck's outrageous statement that the 80s TZ series was "far better" and "more emotionally rich" than the original series, and then i lost it when i tried to post it. And i just don't have the energy to rewrite it. But it was good! Trust me. I would agree. I own the box set of the New Twilight Zone, 2002-03 season, and almost all of the episodes struck me as flat and uninspiring. But what do I know? I love The Howling Man. I thought you were disagreeing about the 02-03 TZ, instead of the '80's TZ.